4561

As I understand it, most kids go crazy over the possiblities when they first try out the game. Then, after a while, they tend to either join a server of friends to build bigger and crazier stuff, or they get together on a modded server to fight monsters.

Honestly Sneakyfrog, while you may not “get it” yourself without trying it, its a VERY addictive game, and I’m pretty sure your kid will love it.

4562

Yep, that’s why I’m looking into it. At $27, it doesn’t fall into my “If he doesn’t like it who cares” dollar level, so I just wanted to understand it a bit more.

4563

Get ready for waterfalls :D

Doom 1 had this, and I think was cool to have lots of cool things, like tortured faces and computer blinking lights.

4564

How old is your son?

The majesty of discovery in Minecraft outweighs the goals you want, IMO. My nieces LOVED seeing new things in Minecraft. Cows and sheep and chickens absolutely amaze them. They want to build houses everywhere, because every new vista they see is incredible. The 5 year-old spent hours throwing snowballs and breaking ice to turn it into water, and she was in awe the first time she saw water flow down a hill because of something she did.

4565

He’s older than that. He’s 11 and (forgive me, because I know this is a stereotypical geek proud parent thing) pretty advanced for his age. So I’m just a bit concerned that he’s going to want something with more goals and obstacles to overcome.

That said, I have been listening to you and I’m pretty confident that I’ll end up getting it for him this weekend. It seems a fairly worthwhile risk, and $27 isn’t something I just want to throw away, but it’s not going to break the bank either. And the upside if he loves it is obviously worth it.

Another extremely kind poster here gave us an extra copy of Company of Heroes that he had (thanks again kind poster), and last night we for the first time successfully defeated the Nazi menace in a 2v2 against the computer. :)

4566

My son was 11 when he started with Minecraft on the PC. He’s 13 now and not only still plays on the PC but spent his own precious MS spacebucks to purchase it on his Xbox as well. He and his 12-14 year old friends are on it (on Xbox Live) constantly. They’ve built countless worlds filled with castles, towers and entire cities. They dream up new ways to play and things to do. With all the mods out they can also play Hunger Games (sort of survival Minecraft) and Faction based PvP on various servers. There’s even a mod out there that turns Minecraft into a psudo-RPG with levels, magic items, spells, dungeons, towers and character classes (not to mention dozens of additional monsters to fight).

I’ve said it before, but I firmly believe that Minecraft is the best $20 I have ever spent in 30+ years of video gaming. Between the improvements to the base game and the millions of mods out there, it never gets old.

4567

Ok, ok, sold. :)

4568

My sons were 13, 13 and 9 when they started playing. They haven’t stopped since. Single player, on my server, at friends’. Don’t worry about the lack of goals. Your son will very likely get sucked in. :)

Wendelius

4569

I didn’t know it was this expensive! I got in on Minecraft when it was $12 and in beta.

4570

I only purchased Minecraft for my kids a year or so back, and that was only because they asked for it (I was never personally taken with it, because I never gave it enough time). I also thought the ‘retro’ graphics would hold them back. I seriously regret now not having gotten it earlier for them. We basically got a 2nd PC for xmas this year just so they could minecraft together.

4571

Playing with mods is so much fun. I have truly enjoyed building my current base. Here are some screenshots showcasing my work thus far. I am mostly done with the technological side and about to delve into the magical.

Some horizontal breakage may occur









4572

Humorously, I just bought it for them. But apparently the server you use to download it has taken a crap, because it doesn’t recognize the username or password I used and won’t let me download it. Yet it still was able to take my $26.95.

We’re off to a good start. :)

4573

I seem to recall issues when I first purchased it online too, but that was back before they revamped the account management stuff. With my more recent purchase, I created the account first and picked up one of the cards they sell at Wal-Mart instead and it worked great.

I think it took a few hours for the game server to realize the purchase had been made, so give it a little time before you panic. :)

4574

My 8 year old has done some amazing stuff in Minecraft. He googles videos for ideas and builds it. He recently figured out how to make doors with pistons and pressure plates after a video mentioned “Star Trek” doors.

Son: What are Star Trek doors?
Me: Cool futuristic doors from that Star Trek show I like that you and your brother refuse to watch.
Son: Can I see the doors?
Me: Sure :googles a video and finds Picard walking into his ready room.
Son: Ok.

About an hour later he calls me in to show me his recreated ready room with ‘whooshing’ automatic doors :D

4575

Is that one of the FTB packs, and what are you using to make the glass look smooth?

4576

It has many mods that are also in the FTB pack, but I sorted it on my own. As for the glass, that’s optifine doing that, but there’s also a separate mod with more features.

4577

Okay, it seems to be working.

Where’s the in-game tutorial? :)

4578

Not there yet?

I relied heavily on this (and still look things up all the time): Minecraft Wiki

4579

Weird as it sounds, the lack of an in-game tutorial is part of why the early days of playing Minecraft were so wonderful for me. Every little thing I discovered was a joy and as I got more curious the wiki was there to fill in the blanks.

4580

Yeah. I don’t want to spoil too much for him, because part of this is getting him to learn to explore. He’s a bright kid, but doesn’t have as much initiate as I would like. He’s “book” smart, but could develop his exploratory nature a bit more.

Of course, at the same time, I don’t want him hating the game because it is frustrating and obtuse, so the Wiki will come in handy if he really gets stuck for things to do.